Double-Critical

This is a personal excerpt of the challenges serving in a high-risk post and how I have come to terms with it.

A Peace Corps Volunteer serves where asked, lacking no illusions to potential hardships, and thousands of miles from home in a foreign land. The most disquieting topics to any volunteer is our safety. Especially in a post, such as Kenya, that receives so much global media attention for violent and dangerous activities. Kenya is unique as it operates as a doubl-critical for safety, which means more restrictions on volunteers and special care that volunteers proceed with an enhanced caution.

Friends and family back home hear reports on the news of this and that occurring, but we are safe in our sites and away from the most threatening violence. Peace Corps takes the utmost precautions regarding the well-being of volunteers anywhere. We understand the risks, how to mitigate them, and are given options regarding how to proceed with our service.

I feel the tension and worry I am sure many or most volunteers feel right now, especially in my group who remain with a year of service. But I feel that all that can be done is being done, and as unsettling or unfair as things may seem, we still remain an open post and can continue all the wonderful work we have dedicated a year to. My personal reaction towards the situation is keep moving forward. I feel no inherent danger or discomfort from the current issues. I do feel a level of frustration with uncertainties but supported by all the staff. While myself, nor anyone else, has any certainty regarding the future of this post, I take a lesson I have learned in more depth from my time in PC and apply it now : live for the moment. Right now everything is okay. Carry on.

DISCLAIMER

This blog is created in my own words and has no affiliation with the Peace Corps, any government, or additional organizations. The views and comments represented are solely my own interpretation and opinions, or the opinions and interpretations of others.